Himachal Pradesh forest dept thwarts Patanjali's attempt to install God of Ayurveda's statue in Harsil Valley

Patanjali Ayurved wanted to put a statue of Dhanvantari, who’s like a god in Ayurveda, in a special forest area called Harsil Valley in Uttarkashi. But the people who take care of the forest said no. They explained that this area is very important for nature, and no building or construction is allowed here. When Patanjali’s team heard this, they agreed to take the statue away. A group of people from Patanjali Ayurveda and the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) had gone to Harsil Valley on an adventure trip on September 2. During this week-long trip, they wanted to climb Harsil Peak and look for special plants with medicinal powers. Before all this, the head of Patanjali, Acharya Balakrishna, said they wanted to put a big 100 kg stone statue on top of Harsil Peak. After he said this, a person named Sharad Rawat, who cares about the environment, told the forest people that this was not okay because it meant doing construction work in a place where it’s not allowed. The DFO in Uttarkashi, DP Baluni, explained, “Patanjali and NIM got permission to go on a mountain trip, but they didn’t say anything about putting up a statue in the forest. When we found out about their plan, we sent our team to stop them from doing it.”